Who Lives Next Door???

The Sensible Sentencing
Trust (SST) is urging New Zealand communities to become
pro-active and get to know their neighbours.

“In light of the tragic death of, Blessie Gotingco,
we are asking communities nationwide to look out for each
other and get to know your neighbours,” Ruth Money
Spokesperson for the Trust says.

Currently SST has
an Offenders Database run by volunteers that lists criminals
and their convictions, however SST are calling on the
Ministry of Justice to develop a database that enables the
general public to access all open court files on
offenders.

“Who lives next door to you? Do you
know their criminal history? Are they a violent offender who
could pose a risk to you and your loved ones?” Money
says. “The information is a click away and we urge
everyone to get informed and bind together as a
community.”

Many convictions are entered and
sentenced in an open court, however the whole ‘public
record’ aspect can become obscure and difficult to find.
Luckily many of these convictions are picked up and entered
on the SST Offenders Database by a host of dedicated
volunteers.

“It may well be a violent offender
who has a long and dangerous history and is supposed to be
being supervised?” Money warns. “All too often
they are not supervised well enough – with tragic
results.”

“Its simple to pop a name into
the search fields,” Money continues. “It may just
save a life.”

The quashing of the convictions of Teina Pora for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett in 1992 has shone a spotlight once again on a major gap in the New Zealand justice system.

To all intents and purposes, access by New Zealanders to the Privy Council has now been closed. Yet the number of times in recent years when the Privy Council has quashed the findings of New Zealand courts has demonstrated that we are regularly(a) jailing the wrong person or(b) arriving at guilty verdicts on grounds sufficiently flawed as to raise serious doubts that a miscarriage of justice has occurred. More>>

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